Long Run Report
Yesterday I had 13.1 miles on the books. Going into the run, I had two goals:
- Don’t go out too fast. I struggle with this a lot during a race. Especially when I am properly rested and fueled, it is so hard to hold myself back at the beginning of a run/race because I feel SO good. It is sometimes hard to remember in the first couple of miles that I need to save energy for the end! A negative split is perfect: go conservative at the beginning, and turn it on towards the end. The last thing that I want to happen in my marathon is to use all of my energy up too soon and feel dead at the end.
- Proper pacing. I read that most marathoners make the same mistake while training: running their long runs too fast and running their speed work too slow. I really want to work on this to make sure that my runs have variety. It is so easy to just go out and “run” however I am feeling that day. By forcing myself to run fast or run slow and steady, I am training my body in the best way to prepare for the marathon.
It is just so crazy how much prep goes into running a marathon!
Anyway, here are my mile splits:
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Overall, I am really happy with this run. The course I ran is pretty hilly- with the last 2.5 miles TOTALLY UPHILL. Even with the hills, I was able to run a negative split and run the second half a lot faster than the first. I started out too fast in the first couple of miles and forced myself to slow down early on. Right around mile 10 I realized that I could probably finish at or just under 2 hours, so I picked up my pace to make it happen. It was a fun challenge, but I was probably going too fast at the end for just a training run. However, since it was a “shorter” long run, I felt safe picking it up a bit. Next weekend I have 17 miles to do. I certainly do not plan on running my 17 miler at a 9:09 pace. Instead, I want to slow down to around 9:30- a long sloooww run.
Overall, I am feeling good and thank God for running! I feel so blessed to be able to do this. I love the challenge, setting goals, and seeing myself improve.